FLORISTIC SURVEY FOR THE TREATMENT OF GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS IN SHIVAMOGGA DISTRICT, KARNATAKA

The present study showed the diversity and importance of plants used to treat gastrointestinal disorders in Shivamogga district of Karnataka. We documented a total of 36 species belonging to 25 families and 33 genera used to treat gastrointestinal disorders in Shivamogga area. Among the plant parts used for gastrointestinal disorder leaf used the highest number (12), followed by fruit (7), rhizome (4), whole plant (4), root (3), seed (2), bark (1), vegetative bud (1), stem/bark (1) and fruit/twigs (1). Further, the existing information on traditional uses of medicinal plants are declining rapidly because of the lack of interest of young people to learn the traditional knowledge from the old medical practitioner. So the documentation and conservation of the information is essential